BPL – MATCH 15 – KHULNA TITANS VS SYLHET SIXERS – FANTASY PREVIEW

The ongoing Bangladesh Premier League – season 5 hosts eighth double-header of the tournament in Dhaka on Wednesday. Teams who are at no. 2 and 4 respectively at the moment in the table Sylhet Sixers and Khulna Titans meets for a second time in the season. In the first meet up, Titans thrashed out Sixers by 6 wickets. Will Titans do they same again or Will Sixers take a revenge on Titans? Match 15 between Khulna Titans vs Sylhet Sixers is scheduled to start at 1 PM Local | 12:30 PM IST on Wednesday, 15th November 2017.

KHULNA TITANS :

Captain Mahmudullah and his team just faced a second loss of the season in a thriller against Dhaka Dynamites on Tuesday. Now Khulna Titans has 2 wins and 2 losses at end of their first 4 matches in the season. Unfortunately, both losses were came against the defending champions Dhaka Dynamites. The strong bowling unit of Titans registered back-to-back wins after faced a loss in their season opener against Dynamites. Titans were looked for hat-trick of victories when they faced Dynamites again on Tuesday. But, top-order failures and power-hitting of Pollard puts Titans on the losing side. The top-order failures are the thing which worrying Titans in almost every match. They have dropped the overseas opener Chadwick Walton for bowling all-rounder Akila Dananjaya on Tuesday. Local player Dhiman Ghosh replaced Mosharraf Hossain and took an additional responsibilities of keeping wickets. We expected that Ghosh would replaces out-of-form Nazmul Shanto. But Titans gave one more chance to Nazmul. The veteran batsman Michael Klinger opened the innings along with Nazmul Shanto. Klinger was very impressive on his BPL debut last week, since that he managed to score just 12 runs in 2 innings. Klinger is well experienced T20 player that would keep him in the XI on Wednesday. Hopes for come back knock from him against Sixers.

Nazmul Hossain Shanto faced 25 balls in the last game against Dynamites and he managed to score 24 runs only. That was his fourth straight innings where he scored at strike-rate of less than 100. His poor batting fades his chances away, guess he won’t be in the XI on Wednesday. But there would be no surprises if still Titans prefers him in the XI. Dhiman Ghosh just managed to score 2 runs off 9 balls. In case Titans bring in Walton back in the XI Ghosh will lose his place or else he will continue to keep the wickets in this game. The team wants better batting performances from Rilee Rossouw who continue to disappointed with his an average batting. He scored a total of 101 runs in 4 innings but the worrying thing is his strike-rate which stays around 110 only. Captain Mahmudullah is the key player of Titans. After two impressive matches, Mahmudullah has an average outing against Dynamites in the last game. But he could be back with match winning show in this game against Sixers. West Indies T20 skipper Carlos Brathwaite pulled Titans back into the game on Tuesday. He strike the ball all over the park in his knock of unbeaten 64 runs off just 29 balls. He also played a quick-fire innings against Vikings on Saturday. He adding a strength to Titans batting at no. 6 and with the ball he was impressive too. Apart from that poor spell against Dynamites, Brathwaite bowled in previous matches. The young bowling all-rounder Jofre Archer continue to bowl well for Titans. He used to bowl well controlled spells in every match and also picking wickets. He is expected to play a key role for Titans on Wednesday.

Ariful Haque who played a scintillating knock of 40 off 25 balls against Vikings, still batted at no. 7 on Tuesday. Hopes that he will move upward in the batting order and possibly opens an innings for the team. Sri Lanka’s Akila Dananjaya back in the XI in the match against Dynamites on Tuesday and he claimed 1 for 17 runs in his 4 overs. That kind of spell will hold his place safe in this spin-friendly Dhaka pitch. The pace bowlers Shafiul Islam and Abu Jayed doing their job well for the team. They bowled well once again on Tuesday. This time Shafiul picked 2 for 24 while Abu Jayed picked 1 for 24 in 3 overs. Both are doing well at this moment which means Titans would prefer to go with same attack of local bowlers. Don’t forget players like Kyle Abbott, Benny Howell, Nicholas Pooran and Seekkuge Prasanna are awaiting for their opportunities and as it’s a long tournament some of the overseas might rested at some point of time in the tournament.

SYLHET SIXERS :

Two consecutive losses in last two games spoiled the momentum of the new franchise Sylhet Sixers. Nasir Hossain led Sylhet Sixers started the season with hat-trick wins but losses in next two matches pushed them down to second spot on the points table. Upul Tharanga and Andre Fletcher partnership for the opening wicket was the biggest plus for Sixers in first three games. But things were changed in last two matches, that means Sixers needs to regroup quickly before fading away more in the tournament. Andre Fletcher smashed 63, 36 and 48 runs respectively in first three matches and also maintained destructive strike-rate. Then he dismissed for just 4 runs against Titans in the previous meet and dropped for the last game. As Sixers need Fletcher in the top-order, he possibly make his return to the XI in this game. The experienced Upul Tharanga started the season with a hat-trick half-centuries. He scored 196 runs in 5 innings which includes 69*, 51, 50, 26 and 1 runs respectively. Sixers wants him to give a better start and no wonder if he comes with 4th half-century of the tournament on Wednesday afternoon.

Sri Lankan opening batsman Danushka Gunathilaka played a match winning innings in his first game for Sixers. Then he scored 26 and 15 runs respectively in the last 2 matches. He is a good player who could score runs quickly and also capable of bowl part-time overs. He might play a key knock for Sixers in this game. There were so much expectations on Sabbir Rahman but managed to score only 22 runs in 5 innings for Sixers. He is the icon player of Sixers that may keep him in the XI but if he continue to play poorly, he may lose his place in the XI. Ross Whiteley shows some contribution in the middle-order but chances are high for him to make a way for Andre McCarthy who had impressive CPL season earlier this year. The inexperienced middle and lower middle-order are a big worrying thing for Sixers. Wicket keeper Nurul Hasan scored only 22 runs in 3 innings. His place might be doubtful, if Fletcher is back and keep wickets then Imtiaz Hossain has a chance to replace Nurul. There were no clue why Sixers dropped Liam Plunkett from the XI, they desperately needs him for this game. Wanindu Hasaranga played his debut match for Sixers on Saturday. But he conceded 20 runs in only 5 balls. Sylhet Sixers would look to bring in Liam Plunkett for Hasaranga.

Former England all-rounder Tim Bresnan has played the last game. He failed with a bat but claimed 2 wickets with a ball. He was the only Sixers bowler who picked wickets in that game. It would be good for Sixers if they go with a combination of England bowlers Plunkett and Bresnan on Wednesday. Local bowlers Taijul Islam, Abul Hasan and Mohammad Shariff were used in previous matches. Abul Hasan claimed a tally of 5 wickets in 5 innings with a best figures of 3 for 22. He contributed with a bat in the last game and will keep his place in the XI safely. The left-arm spinner Taijul Islam has a mixed season. He bowls well in one game then bowl expensive spell in very next game. As he is the best spin option among local players, Sixers will keep him in the XI. Mohammad Shariff is expected to lose his place to Kamrul Islam Rabbi. Sixers used Kamrul Islam in only one game till now and he went for 54 runs in 4 overs. But based on his potential might get a second chance in the XI. If they look for more spin option from the local players then they would pick either Nabil Samad or Shuvagata Hom.

Cricket is what everyone loves. If you’re ready to play fantasy cricket but don’t know how to analyze players, consider his Articles as the foundation of your fantasy teams. Anand is a cricket blogger and fantasy cricket lover.

Keep your lineups current and the money flowing by subscribing to Fantasy Cricket News today!

Fantasy Cricket News (FCN) is a non-biased news site dedicated to providing you with the latest fantasy cricket news and information. It is our mission to be the premier source of all fantasy cricket information which will allow you to maximize your winnings on all daily fantasy cricket websites.

If you’d like to be a guest writer on FCN, do not hesitate to contact us. We’d love to see your best stuff!!